An Ornamental Christmas for Freshly Made Sketches

Today, I’m happy to share my card for this week’s sketch by Narelle Farrugia at Freshly Made Sketches.  This is a wonderful sketch that can be used for almost any occasion.  My card stays really close to the sketch, but it’s the color combination of Real Red and Elegant Eggplant that excites me the most.  Here’s my card:Christmas Collectibles, Petite Pairs, Stampin' Up!, Brian King, FMS108

And here’s Narelle’s sketch:

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

  • Color Inspiration.  On my way from the mailbox with my new Crate & Barrel catalog, I stole a quick glimpse of a page that featured bright reds and deep purples.  What a great color combination for a Christmas card!  When I was ready to make my card for this sketch, I knew I would draw on that combination.  I flipped through the book five or six times to seek out my inspiration only to find that this color combination doesn’t even exist inside the covers of this catalog.  I’m not sure what I saw, but I’m glad I thought I saw it.  I really like the deep purple on this card.
  • Balancing the White Space.  You know I’m not afraid to allow some white space on my cards, right?.  In my artistic view, white space allows the colors to dance on a card front.  For this card, I layered the white space between layers of red and purple, and I really like the way the layers turned out.  Allowing the front panel to pop with Real Red (instead of white) is a bit non-traditional, but I like that it allows the ornament to pop.
  • Placing the sentiment.  One of my first rules of cardmaking – don’t ever glue things down until you are completely happy with the layout.  I knew where I wanted everything on this card – but I was stuck with the sentiment.  I knew I wanted the sentiment on the front panel with the ornament, but I couldn’t find a perfect placement.  I stamped the sentiment and trimmed it, placing the sentiment under, over, beside, across.  Nothing tickled my fancy.  When I laid everything out and centered the ornament, I realized the perfect place for the sentiment would be on the white panel, just to the right of the banners.  I felt like I had cured a horrible disease.  Yay, me!Christmas Collectibles, Petite Pairs, Stampin' Up!, Brian King, FMS108

Stamp sets:  Christmas Collectibles, Petite Pairs  Papers:  Elegant Eggplant, Real Red, Whisper White  Inks:  Elegant Eggplant, Real Red  Accessories:  Christmas Ornament punch, Whisper White Bakers Twine, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Brian

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21 Comments

  1. Hi Brian,
    I’m impressed! this is a Awesome card! Probably the best I seen so far!!!
    Love the purple, red and white together! Good job, Buddy!!!! LOL!

  2. WOW!! Really striking colors Brian. I love this stamp set and companion punch and I love this sketch, it really showcases this beautiful little ornaments. Thank you for the awesome inspiration.

  3. Thank you for one of my Christmas card designs!    

  4. Beautiful card… such a striking color combo!

  5. Whoa…. this is the Christmas card you remember ! Now I would be awe struck if I received this because who would ever expect to see these colors on a Christmas card . Very striking and the card you talk about …. and I really like the layers . Inspiring !! Makes me want to ccome up with some other non traditional color ideas .

  6. I love tip #3 and I think I learned that through osmosis through you. It wasn’t until I started reading your blog this year that I began to adhere my layers only after I was confident that I had the right color combinations on the right layer. I agree that the greeting is perfectly placed! Now, onto curing the next disease 🙂

  7. Three cheers for the Red White and Blue! Love the sketch, Fabulous card!

  8. Beautiful card Brian! I love everything about it – especially the placement of the sentiment!

  9. OOOH la la , love it Brian , another beauty …….. Love it , I’m casing …
    Thanks for your call Brian , I really enjoyed talking to , your such a friend , every one needs a friend like YOU !!! Hugs
    Frenchie ,

  10. OMG….I LOVE the color combo…SO STRIKING!!!! And I agree with the perfect placement of the sentiment.

  11. You are right, this sketch is a multi-purpose sketch. Love what you did with it!
    I got a good laugh from your blog today, thanks!
    Happy Stampin’ Saturday, all!

  12. I LOVE this card! Red and purple together is so daring! So different and exciting!

  13. It’s beautiful, Brian. Love the ornament with the Candy Dot. Perfectly placed everything and the colors are gorgeous!

  14. What a fun color combination and beautiful, clean card! Thanks for playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

  15. What an unusual and striking combo!!! I love the multi-multi layers. And your choice for where to place the sentiment could not have been better. I was looking for inspiration to do mine, I am glad I came here. As always: great inspiration, great tips, great results. Thank you!

  16. I love the bold graphic look! What a great Christmas card! Thanks for joining us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

  17. I would never have thought about Real Red and Elegant Eggplant for a Christmas card, but this really does work! And chevron paper and a fancy ornament? Wouldn’t have thought to pair those, either. Great job of thinking outside the box, Brian!!

  18. I am totally loving this colour combo for Christmas Brian – I would never’ve thought these colours would work so well, but they do!!! Such a clean and crisp card – thanks so much for playing along with my sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!

  19. Great card…change eggplant to dark blue and send to service men and women!! Thanks so much for the great idea.

  20. I just love the color combination and the layers of this card Brian, and the placement of the greeting is perfect! I have tried to CASE it as I love it so much but I can’t get the measurements to work and look as good as your card. Great job!

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